Creel



T M rch f 69 G. A. CARRUTHERS 3,432,118 CREEL Filed Jan. 5, 1967 Sheetof 2 1 N VEN TOR. GEORGE ALAN CARRUTHERS 2 Y @AWV/ ATTORNEYS.

March 11, 1969 GREEL Filed Jan. 5, 1'96? 7 Sheet 2 of? Fig. 5

s. A. CARRUTHERS 3,432,118 r I Fig. 7

mvsmoa GEORGE ALAN CARRU'FHERS ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 0 3,432,118 CREEL George A. Carruthers, Ambleside,England, assignor to Turbo Machine Company, Lansdale, Pa., a corporationof Pennsylvania Filed Jan. 3, 1967, Ser. No. 606,832 US. Cl. 242-131.1Int. Cl. B6511 49/18 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Cross referenceto related applications Reference is made to British Patent applicationNo. 1,367/66, filed Jan. 12, 1966.

Background of the invention Heretofore, creels have been provided whichare made up of a large number of stationary supports, spaced apart fromone another and occupying a large floor area. Each support has beenprovided with a number of angularly arranged supporting rods, each ofwhich is arranged to support a yarn package such as a bobbin, pirn spoolor the like. The packages are conventionally placed on the rods byoperating personnel in the mill, moving between the spaced apartsupports. By means of a warp beamer, the ends of the yarn arecollectively pulled and thereby looped off the ends of their individualpackages, and wound onto the warp beam. Often, the yarns must be rewoundonto cones and the cones placed in the creel for winding onto the warpbeam. The warp beams, in turn serve as the means for supplying multipleends of yarn to a fabricating machine, such as a loom or a warp knittingmachine or the like.

According to conventional creeling practice, the packagesare mounted sothat their axes are disposed at an angle to the vertical. The yarn iswithdrawn from the package at an angle to the package axis, so that theyarn is looped off the end of its package without rotation of thepackage, as it is withdrawn.

The process of beaming with textured yarns, particularly torque yarns,is difficult because such yarns are stretchable along their axes. Thisis particularly true in the case of yarns which are twist-lively, suchas false twist yarns. Whenever the tension is lost on a multiplicity ofadjacent ends of twist-lively yarns, they wind about each other andtangle so badly that they are virtually impossible to separate again.

Summary of invention This invention provides a straightforward andreliably operable alternative to the stationary creel and warp beamapparatus and process now commonly used in textile mills. For the firsttime known to me, the multiple ends of a torque yarn can now beconducted directly from the creel to the fabricating machine. Thisinvention provides a creel for yarn packages comprising a housing havinga multiplicity of parallel compartments open at the front, amultiplicity of removable carriers which are shaped to fit into thecompartments, each carrier being provided with a plurality of rotatablepackage supports. The carriers, when removed from the cabinet, may beloaded with yarn packages and the yarns may be collected together forunwinding in unison, all moving at an angle to the axis of rotation.Then, the carriers may be loaded into the cabinet for compact storage,and the cabinet may be moved to a desired location, such as a locationimmediately adjacent to a fabricating machine such as a loom, or a warpknitting machine or the like.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a simple, compactand inexpensive creel for yarn packages.

Another object of this invention is to provide a compact creel for yarnpackages wherein the packages are easily removable from a plurality oflocations.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a compact creelfor yarn packages which is both portable and modular, in that it can bemoved and readily assembled with other similar creels for applicationsinvolving a great number of yarn packages.

Still another object is to provide a creel wherein a plurality of yarnsmay be withdrawn in unison with one another and along substantiallyparallel lines, and wherein any frictional drag that is imparted to anyindividual yarn is taken up and shared by the other yarns, thus avoidingyarn breakage.

Still another object is to provide a creel which can be used forconnection directly to a fabricating machine, which allows for changingsome of the ends of yarn in th middle of a run on the machine, andsubstituting other ends of yarn therefor.

A further object is to provide an apparatus of the type described whichcontributes ease of maintenance, and ease of repairing any ends of yarnthat should becom broken.

Still another object of this inventon is to provide a creel forconnection directly to a fabricating machine, according to which thefinished fabric can be tested shortly after commencement of the run, andany defective yarn that is found as a result of the tests can be removedimmediately and replaced, thus correcting the defect before the entireyarn content of the creel has been converted into fabric.

Other objects and advantages of this invent-ion will further becomeapparent hereinafter, and from the drawings.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of anembodiment of this invention showing a creel partially broken away witha number of wound yarn package carriers in position within the creel,one carrier being in a removed position, and similar additional creelsshown in phantom;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a deck of the creel shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken as indicated by the lines and arrowsIII-III which appear in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic plan view of a plurality of yarn packages ontheir carrier, showing the path of withdrawal of the yarns from theirpackages;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic elevation of the carrier and packages shown inFIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic plan view of a plurality of yarn packagesshowing an alternative method of withdrawing the yarns simultaneouslyfrom their packages;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic elevation of the packages shown in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic plan view of a plurality of yarn packagesshowing a still further alternative embodiment of the method forsimultaneously withdrawing the yarns from their packages.

Description of the preferred embodiment Although specific forms of theinvention have been selected for illustration in the drawings, and thefollowing description is drawn in specific terms for the purpose ofdescribing those forms of the invention, this description is notintended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined in theclaims.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a creel 11 in the form of ahousing including a vertical structure 12 having shelves 13 thereon, anddisposed on casters 14.

The basic creel design 11 is a modular unit; creels 11a and 11];represent other modules.

The creel shelves 13 are arranged to store a plurality of yarn packagecarriers 20. The details of construction of this carrier 20 as well asits disposition on the creel shelf 13 is shown in FIG. 2.

The shelf 13 is affixed to the vertical structure 12 in any suitablefashion, as by riveting or welding, for example. The shelf itself ispreferably of a light-weight, high strength construction, and may befabricated of relatively thin aluminum sheet having support members asat 21, and channel shaped spacer members as at 22, aflixed thereto.

The yarn package carriers 20 are disposed on the shelves 13 between thespacer members 22, movable into and out of the compartments provided bythe spacer members 22. The dimensions are such that the carriers 20slide freely into and out of position on the shelves between the spacermembers. In order to prevent the carriers 20 from sliding off theshelves 13, a stop 23 is fixed to the spacer member 22.

It has been found convenient to have at least a portion of the carriers20 readily accessible from the front and rear of the creel to facilitateeasy insertion and removal.

The carrier 20 is shown as a flat plate or panel, which may be made ofany material such as metal, wood or the like.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 2 and 3, means are provided forsupporting several yarn packages in a freely rotatable condition on thecarrier 20. A pin 24 is aflixed to the carrier 20 by plate 25. The pin24 is designed to receive a mandrel 26, which is mounted on suitablebearings 27a and 27b to rotate therewith. The bearings have a slidingfit on the pin 24 and are free to rotate thereon. A washer 28 isprovided between the end bearing 27b and the carrier 20. The mandrel 26may be made of any suitable material such as wood or the like, and isprovided with a flange 29 at the end thereof proximate to the carrier20. The mandrel 26 serves as the mounting means for the yarn package 30.

Although the drawings have shown the pins 24 as being substantiallyvertically disposed in the creel, and although this is a preferredembodiment of the invention, it will be clear that the axes of rotationof the yarn packages can be arranged horizontally or at any other anglewith respect to the horizontal or vertical, as desired by the designerof specific equipment intended for a specific purpose. One advantageinherent in a nonhorizontal arrangement is that the yarn package stayson its carrier by reason of gravity and this eliminates the need for anyretaining means at the free end of the pin 24.

The packages 30 may be of any suitable form, but it is preferred toemploy a tubular core 31 onto which the yarn is wound. A double flangedbobbin may be provided in which each end of the core 31 is provided witha flange, and the package is disposed between the flanges. However, asillustrated in FIG. 3, the tubular core is not flanged, but is disposedon the flange 29 of the mandrel 26.

It is preferred that the packages initially all contain the same weightof yarn. This is accomplished in the ordinary operation of automaticwinders currently in use.

Though it is not essential, it is also preferred that the packages beflat Wound.

Referrng to FIG. 4, a yarn configuration for withdrawing the yarnsconcurrently from their packages is shown. Each package is free torotate, as previously described, about its axis as at 34. The yarn endsare drawn off in the direction of rotation as indicated by the arrows.

As shown in FIG. 5, the yarn ends may be drawn off concurrently fromeach of a plurality of wound packages. All ends are drawn off in adirection substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of eachwound package. Of course, it will be understood that the yarns areconverged for ease of handling and are therefore not precisely parallel.Further, the point at which the yarn is withdrawn from its package,i.e., the point of tangency 35 (FIGS. 4 and 5), traverses the axiallength of the package during withdrawal, so that the yarn angle variesfrom an exact perpendicular, as illustrated by the phantom alternateposition illustrated in FIG. 5. This exception is intended to be madewhen I use the expression substan tially perpendicular, to describe theangle of the path of withdrawal to the axis of rotation of the package.The important distinction is that the yarn is not looped off the end ofa stationary package, but is withdrawn sidewise from a rotating package.

This substantially perpendicular Withdrawal is important because itminimizes the variation in the tension of the yarns being unwound fromthe packages.

Referring to FIG. 6, the illustrated configuration has the particularadvantage that a uniform tension is achieved from one yarn end toanother. The operating principle is that should the friction in onewound yarn package be higher than the average, possibly due to tightnessof a bearing, for example, then the extra tension required to overcomethe increased friction is shared by all the yarn ends. As shown in FIG.6, the yarn end 39 from the lead wound package 40 is withdrawn from thepackage in the direction of rotation just as it was in FIG. 4. However,the yarn end is then looped around a portion of the circumferentialsurface of the next adjacent wound yarn package 42 and simultaneously anend 41 of yarn is withdrawn from that wound yarn package. Both yarns arethen taken in a path around the circumferential surface of the leadwound yarn package 40 and the foregoing steps are then repeated with thenext adjacent wound yarn package 43. As the yarns 39 and 41 proceedaround the circumferential surface of the wound yarn package 43 anotherend of yarn 44 is concurrently withdrawn from this wound yarn package inthe direction of rotation of the packages. This method of unwinding maybe repeated for as many of the wound yarn packages as is desirable,depending on the type of yarn used and the amount of frictionencountered. The yarns may then be withdrawn from the creelsimultaneously, as at 45. FIG. 7 illustrates that the substantiallyperpendicular path of withdrawal is maintained, even with the FIG. 6configuration.

In FIG. 8, a further alternative configuration for unwinding thepackages is disclosed. In this case the principle of sharing the tensionload is again utilized. However, package 42 instead of package 40provides the initial yarn. The configuration is substantially the same,and is based upon the principle that one must proceed from one woundpackage to an adjacent wound package in the direction of rotationwithout skipping a wound package that has not as yet had an end of yarnwithdrawn from it. This principle avoids crossovers and entanglement,and permits simultaneous withdrawal of the yarns.

Referring again to FIG. 1, it can be seen that a creel of the typedescribed may form a modular section of a larger creel by locatingsimilar creels side by side (11, 11a, 11b). This is of particularadvantage for applications where a large number of yarns is necessary.The: modular concept can then be used to feed large numbers of ends ofyarn into machines of different capacities.

The creel may be designed to meet given criteria for a particular plantoperation. For example, it may be designed with the human engineeringfactors given the greatest weight, e.g. the height of the creel may bemade equal to that of an average worker to facilitate ease in loadingthe wound yarn package carriers containing a pluarity of wound yarnpackages onto the shelves.

The mobility of the creel is particularly desirable in that it may beused to service a number of machines at various plant locations and neednot take up a fixed area of floor space. Its compactness and highpackage density provide a great many advantages over the tfixed creelknown in the prior art. In addition to the space saving and efficiencyadvantages, it can now be readily understood that from a quality controland maintenance standpoint the creel has the advantage of allowing anoperator to repair broken ends of yarn, or remove faulty yarns by simplyremoving the yarn package carrier 20 and either replace it with anotheryarn package carrier, or substitute one package for another. Any numberof packages may be changed in this manner, thus facilitating changes inyarn types or colors.

According to this invention, the yarn package carriers may be separatelyassembled with a plurality of yarn packages. Having once decided on aconfiguration for unwinding the packages, such as one of the methodsshown in FIGS. 4 through 8, the initial unwinding of the ends of theyarn can be performed ahead of time. The yarn ends to be withdrawn arecarried to the front end of the yarn package carrier, where they may beretained in exact order in any suitable fashion, as by knotting themabout the pin shown aflixed to the front end of the yarn package carrier(FIG. 2).

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials andarrangements of parts which have been described herein and illustratedin order to explain the nature of this invention, may be made by thoseskilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention asexpressed in the following claims.

The following is claimed:

1. In a method of withdrawing yarn ends from a plurality of wound yarnpackages which packages are disposed in a creel and which packages arefree to rotate in the same direction so as to unwind, the stepscomprising:

withdrawing the yarn from a package in the direction of rotationthereof, wrapping said yarn about a circumferential portion of the nextadjacent yarn package in the same direction of rotation, withdrawinganother end of yarn from said adjacent wound yarn package, continuing towithdraw both ends of yarn from their respective packages in a commonpath.

2. In a method as in claim 1, the additional steps of extending saidyarn ends around a portion of the surface of said first mentioned yarnpackage in the direction of rotation thereof, continuing to withdrawboth of said yarn ends in a path extending around the next adjacent yarnpackage which has not had an end of yarn withdrawn from it, in the samedirection of rotation and withdrawing another end of yarn from said nextadjacent yarn package, and continuing to withdraw the group of yarn endsin a common path.

3. A creel for yarn packages comprising a housing, a plurality ofshelves arranged in vertical spaced relation with respect to one anotherwithin said housing, a plurality of spacer elements dividing each ofsaid shelves into a plurality of elongated compartments, open at theends thereof, a pluraltiy of yarn package carriers, each slidably storedin a compartment, and each of said carriers including a plurality ofspaced-apart supporting means, each arranged to carry a yarn packagewith capacity for rotation about its axis.

4. A creel as in claim 3, wherein caster means mounted on said housingto enable said creel to be easily moved.

5. The creel defined in claim 3 wherein the supporting means arethemselves rotatable.

6. A creel as in claim 5 whereinsaid rotatable supporting means aresubstantially parallel to one another.

7. The creel as in claim 6, wherein a retaining means is disposed oneach of said carriers to retain the ends of said yarns together whenthey have been withdrawn from their respective packages.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,042,340 7/1962 Butler 242131FOREIGN PATENTS 536,897 4/ 1955 Belgium.

LEONARD D. CHRISTIAN, Primary Examiner.

